Senior tuition waivers cost UA little

[cleofus1]

http://www.adn.com/opinion/guest_columns/story/6766984p-6655598c.html

"By offering cuts and alternative income, a public administrator can show the Legislature he is doing his part while asking for more money.


The number implied by a university spokesperson to be the savings from cutting the senior citizen tuition waiver was $310,000. The number is bogus. Teachers know what seniors themselves would tell you: Eliminating waivers will simply banish all but a few seniors from the university's campuses.

Student seniors are on fixed incomes, rarely much above basic needs. The 500-plus seniors sprinkled among 32,000 enrolled students are in the classrooms because it is free.

Senior students belong to that rare class of scholar that comes to class for intellectual enrichment. Their occasional questions tend to enliven that kind of interest in other students who are otherwise there to meet the university's usual goals, as a part of the factory model: students in, worker-employees out."

[cleofus1]

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"The university president is quoted as saying he had a difficult time defending the program when questioned by younger students who felt it was unfair. It is gratifying to hear that the president of a university, usually thought to have his days filled with meetings with chancellors, deans, chairpersons, bean-counters, regents, politicians, people of importance in the community and a few professors, has taken time to discuss senior citizen waivers with undergraduates. It is also surprising that the undergraduates would find this unfair -- rather than the huge tuition increases announced by the president."